Australia’s first listed FinTech investment company
By Russell Lyons, David Bath and Marie Zuo
On or around 19 October 2016, H2Ocean is proposing to list on the Australian Securities Exchange as a listed investment company (LIC). Following a successful initial public offering (IPO), H2 Ocean will become Australia’s first LIC focused on investing in early and growth stage FinTech companies. H2Ocean proposes to invest in between 15 and 50 FinTech startups which will have typically graduated from an incubator or accelator program or will be backed by a reputable venture capital firm. These startups will be based in both Australia and overseas.
The H2Ocean IPO will allow potential investors to be exposed to FinTech investments and venture capital as an alternative asset class, which might not otherwise be directly accessible to the public. This unique offering in the Australian market comes at a time where global FinTech financing is trending towards venture capital backed FinTech companies and is expected to reach a record high in 2016.
So far, H2Ocean has gained support from Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian co-founder, who will be subscribing for shares in the IPO. Mike Cannon-Brookes backed Australian payments company Tyro in its $100 million capital raising at the end of 2015.
Treasurer Scott Morrison also attended the H2Ocean launch last week. With high profile supporters and as Australia’s first listed FinTech investment company, H2Ocean is another encouraging sign for Australia’s FinTech future.